Runnersweb has a great article on the benefits of adding strength to an endurance athletes schedule. They mention this is best done during a “speed” phase. So after your base building mentioned in yesturday’s post. Here’s a quote:
Recent research indicates that very demanding strength training, the kind of work which utilizes fairly heavy resistance, is likely to lead to major gains in endurance running performance.
At first glance, of course, this proposition would appear to be absurd. After all, heavy-duty strength training revolves around high-load efforts, slow movements, and small numbers of reps. In contrast, competitive endurance running is associated with nothing more than body weight for resistance, relatively quick movements, and incredible numbers of reps (180 to 200 steps per minute, or 6300 to 7000 “reps” in a 35-minute 10K). In addition, high-resistance strength training is carried out for a few seconds at a time, with a relatively low rate of oxygen consumption, whereas 10-K running is usually sustained for 30 or more minutes, with an oxygen consumption rate of more than 90 percent of maximal. How can there be a close connection between anaerobic strength training and aerobic endurance running?
Link.